Emergency landing runway



June G. BURTON 2,351,02

EMERGENCY LANDING RUNWAY Filed Nov. 18, 1941 PatentedJune 13, 1944UNITED sTAras' PATENT OFFICE EMERGENCY LANDING RUNWAY Gus Burton,Wadley, Ga. Application November 18,1941, Serial No. 419,631 2 Claims.(01244-114) This invention relates to an emergency landing runway forairplanes and the like, and has for one of its objects the production ofa simple and eflicient runway which carries a plurality of surfacerollers, which rollers are arranged in such a manner upon a plasticrunway as to provide an efficient landing area for a disabled airplane.

A further object of this invention is the production of a simple andefllcient frame construction around which cement, concrete, asphalt orother road-surfacing material may be placed to embed the frame andanchor the frame in-place.

Another object of this invention is the production of a simple andefficient frame construction for a safety runway which is so arranged asto provide an emcient drainage around and adjacent the traction rollerswhich are carried by the runway.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appearthroughout the following specification and claims.

In the drawing- Figure 1 is a top plan view of the runway, 'a portion ofthe surfacing material being broken away to illustrate the frame; I

Figure 2 is a fragmentary bottom plan view;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1;

of sectional safety runways may be anchored together.

By referring to the drawing, it will be seen that a frame ll! of asuitable size and shape is provided. preferably elongated as shown inFigure 1. This frame I is provided with side walls H and end walls I 2,the' walls II and I2 having inwardly extending bottom flanges l3 and 14respectively, as shown in Figures 3 and 4. The end walls l2 are eachprovided with outwardly extending and downwardly inclined flanges I! toprovide ramps or guards at the respective ends of the runway fordirecting a landing plane upwardly toward the top surface of the runwayif contact should be made at the end, of the 1 unway and also toeliminate abrupt abutments which might tend to catch into dependingportions of the plane or rimning gear thereof. Suitable roadwaysurfacing material I6 is laid flush with the: outer and nf the flnnim I!at each and nf the intervals throughout the length of the frame l0.

runway, as shown in Figure 3. A U-shaped anchoring rail I1 is carried ateach end of the frame It, as shown,-and these anchoring rails are alsoembedded irf the surfacing material It. Similar side anchoring rails l8are carried along the side walls I l for anchoring the frame in theroadsurfacing material which may surround the roadway on all sides.

The frame II is also provided with longitudinal parallel stringers l8.Each stringer I9 is provided with vertically spaced lateral flanges 20and a central vertical web 2|. A series of pairs of transverselyextending roller-protecting plates 22 are securedbetween the walls IIand the webs 2| of the stringers l9 and between the webs 2| of theadjacent stringers 19, as shown in Figure 1. These pairs of plates 22are arranged at spaced The plates 22 of each pair are arranged indownwardly inclined diverging relation, as shown in Figure 3, to provideroller-receiving pockets 23 which are wider at the bottom than at thetop. Traction rollers 24 are mounted in each pocket 23 and a suitablenumber of rollers are arranged in longitudinal alignment transversely ofthe frame III, as shown. These rollers 24 are'spirally scored orgrooved, as at 25, to facilitate traction, and the surmces of therollers 24 extend slightly above the upper surface of the runway toprovide rolling contact with the bottom of an airplane passing over therunway.

In building the runway, the frame III is positioned in the desiredlocation, and a suitable road surfacing material is poured to fill inbetween the skeleton frame-work of the frame Ill until the surfacingmaterial is flush with the upper face of the frame Ill and suitablemolds may be provided to shape the bottoms of the'pockets 23 tofacilitate drainage. Drain pipes 26 are provided at the bottom of eachpocket 23 and a drain pipe 21 is provided to connect the transverselyaligned pockets 23, as shown in Figure 4. These pipes 21 communicatewith a longitudinal drain pipe 28, which pipe 28 is provided with asuitable outlet, such as the open end 29.

The outer end of the flange i5 is preferably welded or otherwise securedto the anchoring rail II, as shown in detail in Figure-3.

The runway may be made of any desired size to cover a specific area, or.a plurality of runways may be assembled in groups to provide length andwidth as desired. When assembling a group of runways, the runway l0maybe provided at each corner with an ular extensions 30 to which thecorners of adjoining runways It may be secured by suitable bolts it.

Having described the invention, what is claimed 1. An emergency landingrunway for airplanes comprising a skeleton frame having side and endwalls, longitudinal stringers mounted between the walls, tractionrollers journaled between the stringers and the walls, downwardlyinclined roller-protecting plates diverging at their lower ends anddefining roller-receiving pockets widened at their lower ends, a fillerfor said frame extending flush with the top of the frame and saidplates, the rollers extending above the surface of the filler and platesto provide traction for a disabled plane landing upon and moving overthe runway, and a downwardly inclined flange merging in the top of theframe to guide an airplane up to the top face of the runway.

2. An emergency landing runway for airplanes comprising a skeleton framehaving side and end walls, longitudinal stringers mounted between thewalls, traction rollers journaled between the stringers and the walls,downwardly inclined roller-protecting plates diverging at their lowerends and defining roller-receiving pockets widened at their lower ends,a filler ior said frame extending from the frame and adapted to beembedded in an adjoinin surface.

GUS BURTON.

